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South Korean high school parachute kids in Southern California: academic, pychological adjustment and identity formation

SOUTH KOREAN HIGH SCHOOL PARACHUTE KIDS
IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
ACADEMIC, PYCHOLOGICAL ADJUSTMENT AND IDENTITY FORMATION
by
Boonsoon Byun
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION
December 2010
Copyright 2010 Boonsoon Byun

This study uses ethnographic interviews to explore the academic and socio-psychological adjustment of ten South Korean parachute students attending high school in Southern California. These interviews reveal a complex story about the lives of Korean parachute kids. Most were not doing well enough in South Korea to assure they could secure a higher education there, especially in a highly competitive system of higher education. Attending school in the United States was a transnational solution to this competitive system even if it meant that these students would live there without their parents.; Though these parachute students attended Southern California public and private schools, almost all of them had little time to prepare for their move abroad to study. While they all had various degrees of formal school preparation in English most reported that English was a major stumbling block to their adjustment in the United States. Korean parents generally made all living arrangements for their children in the United States, somewhat evenly divided between paid non-kin caretakers or with a relative. Parents took advantage of web-based communications with their children abroad in an attempt to assert their authority. The physical separation between parachute students and their parents seemingly contributed to an initial dramatic increase in autonomy and independence. Communications with parents generally focused on school life, grades and health. Students, however, reported that communications was often difficult because parents were unable to appreciate and understand living as a parachute kid.; Whether or not they found U.S. schools to be easier or harder, almost all reported studying harder here and planning to go on to college in the United States. Their relationship with teachers was mixed at very best; however they believe their international status was a positive status. Relationships with students were filled with inter-cultural communication differences. Most reported feelings of distance from American students. While they could get support from their peers for school work, they were unable to nurture the relationship beyond this point due to the lack of a common ground between them and American students. They sought out the company of other parachute kids, but this relationship did little to solve the loneliness of being a parachute kid and what they could do to improve this situation.; Most parachute kids revealed that they planned to stay in the United States after completing college, but all of them reported intense periods of loneliness. There was no systematic support from the school of community to overcome hardships of loneliness. Hardly any reported a sense of belonging in school. The students stressed the importance of religion and the church in overcoming their hardships as parachute students. Apparently when facing a strong sense of social marginalization, the church played a major role in these students’ quest for identity and a sense of belonging.; The struggle to achieve identity is a universal part of coming of age in adolescent society regardless of cultural, ethnic, and nationality backgrounds. Korean parachute kids were no exception. They coped with several identities, including their nationality identity, their international student status, their sojourner status as parachute kids, being Korean or Korean American, and the panethnic label of being Asian.; While they all experienced different levels of adjustment and conflict in the United States, they were all committed to pursuing a higher education here and even securing a job after graduating from college. Still, this transnational pipeline from underperforming student in Korea to a postsecondary education in the United States is unlikely to diminish in the coming decades. Recommendation and suggestions for streamlining the South Korean parachute student pipeline are provided.

SOUTH KOREAN HIGH SCHOOL PARACHUTE KIDS
IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
ACADEMIC, PYCHOLOGICAL ADJUSTMENT AND IDENTITY FORMATION
by
Boonsoon Byun
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION
December 2010
Copyright 2010 Boonsoon Byun